Egyptian ultra barred from Presidential election over parent's dual citizenship can stand for poll

Cairo, Apr 12 (ANI): An Egyptian court has ruled that an ultra-conservative preacher is eligible to contest in the upcoming Presidential election, saying there are no documents to prove his mother is a US citizen.

Salafist politician Hazem Abu Ismail was earlier barred from contesting the elections as Egypt's electoral commission claimed his mother possesses dual nationality.

In Egypt candidates for the presidency, their parents and their wives cannot have citizenship of another country.

But On Wednesday the Cairo Administrative Court decided that the authorities did not have documents proving that she was an American citizen, The BBC reports.

According to the state-run media, the court ordered the interior ministry to issue a certificate establishing that Ismail's mother 'has never held another nationality other than her Egyptian nationality.'

Ismail has a large following among Egypt's Salafist movement, and advocates a conservative form of Islam, similar to that followed in Saudi Arabia. (ANI)